RTG’s totally and utterly (we hope) indispensable guide to this season’s away grounds.
THE OPPO – Chelsea FC
DATE – Saturday 10 September
KO TIME – 3pm
THE GROUND – Stamford Bridge– click here and here for maps of the area – the red circle shows where the ground is.
STADIUM CAPACITY 42,522
AWAY TICKET ALLOCATION 3,000
TICKETS
Tickets for this game currently on general sale, all priced at £48.
Away supporters are allocated seats in the South Stand (the old ‘Shed End’) – and you’ll get roughly this sort of view of the pitch.
GOING BY CAR?
From Sunderland take the A690 then A1/A1(M) southbound then M1 southbound.
Leave M1 at jcn 6A and join the M25, following signs for Heathrow.
Leave M25 at jcn 15, join M4 following signs for ‘London (W), Heathrow terminals 1,2 & 3”)
Leave M4 at jcn 1 and take A4 heading towards Hammersmith. Stay on it over the Hammersmith flyover and for a further 1.5 miles before turning off for Earls Court.
Go past Earls Court station and down the one way system until you hit Fulham Road, turn right at the traffic lights.
Go straight on for 600 yards and the ground is on your right. Parking is difficult very close to the ground so you may want to look a bit further away.
The journey should take you around five and a half hours from Sunderland.
Warning! There are a lot of ‘residents only’ parking schemes in the area – park inappropriately and risk a souvenir parking ticket…
GOING BY TRAIN?
The 0834 GNER service from Newcastle will get you into London Kings Cross just before midday, giving you ample time to find your way to Stamford Bridge and have a drink before kickoff.
Going home, the 1900 GNER gets you to Sunderland at 2215 or the 1930 gets you there at 2247.
Train times and ticket prices available online at http://www.nationalrail.co.uk
The nearest underground station to Stamford Bridge is Fulham Broadway on the District Line:
– from Kings Cross, take a Northern Line tube south to Embankment then change to the District line and jump on a Wimbledon-bound train but get off at Fulham Broadway. OR
– from Kings Cross take a Victoria Line tube south to Victoria then change to the District line and jump on a Wimbledon-bound train but get off at Fulham Broadway. OR
– from Kings Cross take a Piccadilly Line tube south to South Kensington then change to the District line and jump on a Wimbledon-bound train but get off at Fulham Broadway.
A.L.S. TRAVEL?
ALS coaches leave at 7am on the day and it’ll cost you £25 – call 0191 5654422 for details.
WHERE TO DRINK
Been to this ground before? Got a pub to recommend? Email [email protected] and we’ll add it here.
SMOKERS PLEASE NOTE!
Stamford Bridge stadium is now a completely no smoking venue – this includes the concourses as well as the seating area.
LEND US A FIVER I’M OUT OF CASH
There are ATMs in Kings Cross station. Or there’s actually an ATM at the Bridge itself – at the Chelsea Village Hotel (but it charges £1.75) and there’s also one on Fulham Broadway.
LAST SEASON
Premiership 1st,
FA Cup QF,
League Cup winners,
Champions League SF.
HEAD TO HEAD
Aaaaaah happy days – 4th December 1999 and we were beating the Blues 4-0 even before it got to half time, SKP and Quininho had two each. March 2001 and the Lads turned a 2-1 half time deficit into a 4-2 victory.
Chelsea and Sunderland have met 98 times in the League – we’ve won 35 and they’ve won 43, with 20 draws.
LAST MEETINGS
05.04.03 Sunderland 1 Chelsea 2 (Thornton)
30.11.02 Chelsea 3 Sunderland 0
16.03.02 Chelsea 4 Sunderland 0
09.12.01 Sunderland 0 Chelsea 0
17.03.01 Chelsea 2 Sunderland 4 (Hutchison (2), McCann, Phillips)
14.10.00 Sunderland 1 Chelsea 0 (Phillips (p))
04.12.99 Sunderland 4 Chelsea 1 (Quinn 2, Phillips 2)
CHELSEA’S RECENT RESULTS
14.08.05 Wigan 0 Chelsea 1
21.08.05 Chelsea 1 Arsenal 0
24.08.05 Chelsea 4 West Brom 0
27.08.05 Spurs 0 Chelsea 2
Credits: Chelsea FC official website, National Rail, RAC, Soccerbase, www.multimap.com, Link, BBC.
